Last month, Bartow Firm A-C-T took delivery of an all-electric Nissan Leaf and installed a 240-volt rapid charging station on their property.

BY KYLE KENNEDYTHE LEDGER

BARTOW | Rob Kincart must feel pretty good when he passes a gas station these days.Kincart's firm, Bartow-based A-C-T Environmental and Infrastructure, is getting a jolt of electric car technology. Last month, the business took delivery of an all-electric Nissan Leaf and installed a 240-volt rapid charging station on their property.The charging station is the first of its kind in Bartow, but also notable is the fact that A-C-T appears to be a rare example of a company with a Leaf in its fleet."We were just voted the Green Business of the Year in Bartow, and we are in the environmental business, so we thought it appropriate to investigate the use of electric vehicles," Kincart said. "Obviously with the price of gasoline looking at $4 per gallon, I thought it would make sense to try one."It's a relatively cautious experiment for A-C-T, which does environmental science, engineering and industrial cleanup work. The company will lease the Leaf for $214 monthly over a two-year period; the quick charge station — which replenishes the Leaf's battery in roughly 30 minutes — cost about $2,000 to purchase and install. The device will add an estimated $50 to A-C-T's monthly power bill.The Leaf can travel more than 70 miles on a full charge and Kincart said the vehicle is primarily being used for driving to local job sites and running errands. He said he opted to lease instead of buy the Leaf because he expects electric car technology to improve in the coming years and become more feasible for longer trips."I would like to see them with a range of a couple hundred miles, which would allow us to go into Tampa or Orlando without fear of knowing where a charging station was," Kincart said.Considered the world's first mass-market electric vehicle, the Leaf has sold more than 50,000 units globally (20,000-plus in the U.S.) since its launch in 2010. Domestic sales have lagged, however: Nissan only sold about 10,000 Leafs nationwide last year, half of what the automaker projected. The 2013 Leaf retails for a base price of $28,800 — $6,400 less than the previous model — and buyers can qualify for a $7,500 federal tax credit.It doesn't appear that many businesses have adopted the Leaf."While we have worked with a few corporate partners ... Nissan has focused LEAF sales on the retail side," said Nissan spokesman Travis Parman. "As with many new vehicles — especially ones with innovative technology like Leaf — we find that fleet managers first purchase smaller numbers to evaluate them, and we anticipate being in that mode for 2013."According to a forecast from Pike Research, worldwide fleet purchases of plug-in electric vehicles will grow from approximately 37,000 vehicles this year to more than 291,000 vehicles by 2020.The City of Lakeland‘s fleet includes a single Chevy Volt — an "extended range" electric vehicle that uses a gas engine for backup power.One problem for plug-in cars is the scarcity of rapid charging stations (a Leaf takes several hours to charge using a 110-volt outlet or standard charging station). Approximately 160 fast charging stations exist in the U.S., though Nissan recently announced an initiative to install 500 of the stations nationwide during the next 18 months.Polk County has a handful of public charging stations, with one each at the two Kohl's stores in Lakeland and Lake Wales, and one at the Main Street parking garage in downtown Lakeland. Jenkins Nissan in Lakeland and Hill Nissan in Winter Haven also have convenient charging stations.Though the technology is still proving itself, Kincart said he has no major qualms with the Leaf thus far."I don't think you can go wrong with one vehicle for around-town traffic," he said. "Especially at the $200 price."

[ Kyle Kennedy can be reached at kyle.kennedy@theledger.com or 863-802-7584. ]